By: Nate Calvin
FAYETTE – Edgerton had no answer for Fayette senior Skylar Lester as he put up 24 points and 10 rebounds and Fayette survived a 1/6 stretch at the free throw line in the final 13 seconds to escape with a 43-41 win.
Coming off hitting 11 triples in their last game, the Bulldogs continued to hit from long range as Nathan Swank would connect on two treys for an early 8-5 Edgerton lead.
Demetrius Whiteside tied the game for Fayette at 11-11 with a bucket at the 2:59 mark of the first quarter before back-to-back buckets from Lester gave the Eagles a 15-11 lead after the 6-0 run.
Corey Everetts would end the quarter with the Bulldogs third three-pointer of the night just before the buzzer to trim the Eagles lead to 15-14.
A low scoring second quarter started with four straight points by the Eagles to extend the lead to 19-14.
After seven straight missed shots to open the quarter, Swank buried triples from the left wing and then the right corner to give the Bulldogs the lead back at 20-19 with 2:10 left in the half.
Fayette would retake the lead just before halftime as Wyatt Mitchell hit a foul line jumper after the Eagles had burned the final minute of the first half off the clock for a 21-20 lead.
Edgerton started the second half continuing the three-point barrage as Cory Herman and Swank connected and the Eagles countered with two Lester buckets down low and a Chase Moats jumper for a 27-26 lead.
Lester finished with seven points in the quarter after stepping outside and hitting a three ball from the top of the key as Fayette led 30-28 entering the fourth quarter.
The first points of the fourth wouldn’t come until the 5:01 mark as Swank was 2/2 at the line to tie things up at 30-30.
Lester then put the Eagles on his back with a bucket on the low square, two free throws after an offensive rebound, and then a conventional three-point play after an inbounds pass for a 37-30 Fayette advantage.
Edgerton wouldn’t go way though as they stayed within striking distance at the foul line and after Swank was fouled on a three-point attempt and went 3/3 at the line, the Fayette lead was 41-39 with 24.6 left.
Mitchell would then split a pair at the charity stripe for Fayette before an Everetts layup made it 42-41 with 14.7 seconds remaining.
Mitchell was again 1/2 at the line but Demetrius Whiteside was fouled after grabbing the offensive rebound on the Mitchell miss to put him at the line.
Whiteside would miss the pair but again it was Whiteside snagging the offensive rebound and he would go back to the line after being fouled.
The door remained open for the Bulldogs after Whiteside was 0/2 as Fayette went 5/12 at the foul line in the final frame compared to 11/11 for Edgerton.
Following timeouts by each team and 4.9 left on the clock, Quentin Blue’s runner in the lane was off the mark and the putback by Scottie Krontz to tie the game was just after the final buzzer and was waved off by the officials giving the Eagles a 43-41 win.
Despite going just 10/41 (24%) overall from the field, the Bulldogs (5-12) stayed in the game with a 7/18 (38%) night from deep and 14/17 (82%) at the foul line.
On the flip side, Fayette (8-10) took 14 fewer shots from the field then Edgerton but hit a blistering 17/27 for 62%.
Just four Bulldogs reached the scoring column led by 20 from Swank and Everetts added 14.
EDGERTON (41) – Blue 0; Everetts 14; Picillo 0; Walkup 2; Herman 5; Swank 20; Krontz 0; Totals: 3-7-14 – 41
FAYETTE (43) – Frenn 7; Moats 2; Mitchell 4; Lester 24; Whiteside 4; Dunnett 2; Totals: 15-2-7 – 43
GAME STATISTICS – EDGERTON: FG – 10/41 (24%); FT – 14/17 (82%); Rebounds – 18 (7 offensive); Turnovers – 7; FAYETTE: FG – 17/27 (62%); FT – 7/16 (43%); Rebounds – 24 (4 offensive); Turnovers – 14
EDGERTON 14 6 8 13 – 41
FAYETTE 15 6 9 13 – 43
JUNIOR VARSITY: Edgerton, 31-23
Nate can be reached at sports@thevillagereporter.com
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